


The Faraway Sasquatch.

by AileronNova



Category: OMORI (Video Game)
Genre: BUFF SUNNY, Boxer AU, Everyone Forgave Sunny (Mostly), F/M, Sunny and his mom have a heart to heart, Sunny is actually a pretty good fighter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-18 12:33:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28992240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AileronNova/pseuds/AileronNova
Summary: A year after Sunny fought basil, lost his eye, told the truth, and moved. Sunny realized that he was bored, and after talking with his friends he decided to get a new hobby.
Relationships: Eventual Aubrey/Sunny
Comments: 26
Kudos: 295





	1. Chapter 1

Sunny had sighed after snapping himself out of daze, Daydreaming was dangerous… His black leather eye patch covering the gaping hole in his eye socket was an attestation to that. There was a problem that came up with him completely forgoing the act of exploring his mind, Boredom. Sunny was constantly bored out of his mind. Talking to his friends remedied this problem a little bit but they had their own lives to worry about so the best Sunny could do was the average conversation or text in the group chat every now and then. However no matter what Sunny did, it became more and more clear. He needed a hobby.

Sunny had started with his own ideas, he had considered asking Basil about getting into gardening who he had no doubt would have been ecstatic of the idea but Sunny didn’t feel like imitating what was akin to Basil’s pride and joy. He thought of writing next but wasn’t comfortable of the idea due to his newly recent adversity of delving into his mind. He considered getting back into playing the violin but quickly discarded this line of thought.

“Too many bad memories…” he thought to himself. After a week of boredom and failed brainstorms he decided that he needed some outside input. So he pulled out his phone that he had gotten from Basil a couple months ago and opened up the chatting app everyone used.

` **The Misfits** `   
` **Users  
HappyHydrangeas: Online  
keeeeeeeel: Online  
PinkDelinquent: Online  
PersistandOvercome: Online  
KissTheCook042: Away** `

`PersistandOvercome: I need a new hobby.`

`A couple seconds later three dots had shown up over Kel’s icon.`

`keeeeeeeel: is the city life too boring for you :I?`

`“It’s not exactly a city.” Sunny thought to himself.`

`PinkDelinquent: Don’t be an ass Kel.`

`keeeeeeeel: what? i was asking him an actual question ):`

`PersistandOvercome: Yes, It is boring.`

`keeeeeeeel: haha see?`

`Aubrey’s response was delayed for a couple seconds.`

`PinkDelinquent: Ugh... Well do you already have any ideas Sunny?`

`PersistandOvercome: Writing or Astrology.`

`keeeeeeeel: writing seems like it fits you perfectly!!!!! why don’t you do that??`

`PersistandOvercome: I don’t like daydreaming.`

`keeeeeeeel: waaaaat? why?`

Silence...

`keeeeeeeel: ??????`

`keeeeeeeel: oh`

`keeeeeeeel: right`

`PinkDelinquent: Youre such an idiot kel.`

`keeeeeeeel: im not an idiot!! i just forgot thats all ):`

`HappyHydrangeas: Writing doesn’t always require daydreaming Sunny. You could always try writing non-fiction, or try writing for a newspaper!`

`PersistandOvercome: No.`

`HappyHydrangeas: Well... What about Astrology?`

`KissTheCook042: Astrology can be kind of expensive to get into, Telescopes can be upwards of 600 dollars for a decent one.`

`keeeeeeeel: :O holy cow! also i thought you had an exam or something hero??  
KissTheCook042: They delayed it because of the rain. So I’m just taking a break from going over some studies.`

`keeeeeeeel: oh yeah! school got canceled because the power got knocked out or something...`

`HappyHydrangeas: One of the power lines fell, apparently it’ll take them all day to fix because it’s still raining.`

`keeeeeeeel: im kinda glad that school got canceled because i still need to finish that paper for english, but basketball practice got canceled too so im conflictid`

`keeeeeeeel: conflicted?`

`keeeeeeeel: O: WAIT WAIT WAIT I GOT AN IDEA!!!!!!!!!!`

`HappyHydrangeas: What would that be?`

`KissTheCook042: Hmmm?`

`PinkDelinquent: ?`

`keeeeeeeel: SPORTS SUNNY SHOULD DO SPoRTS!!!`

`PinkDelinquent: Isnt sports your thing?`

`keeeeeeeel: only basketball… he could do something like soccer or football!`

`PinkDelinquent: LMFAO`

`HappyHydrangeas: ...`

`KissTheCook042: No offense to Sunny but I genuinely cannot see him playing football.`

`keeeeeeeel: well i was just making a suggestion… :p`

`KissTheCook042: Speaking of sports, have you been eating right and getting exercise?`

It took Sunny a while to think about his answer, He hasn't really done anything physical besides walking to and from classes when at school, and while his mother has been making dinner more often, he still usually eats microwave meals and left-overs which wasn't exactly the healthiest of lifestyles.

`PersistandOvercome: Yes.`

`KissTheCook042: That took you awhile to answer...`

`KissTheCook042: Sunny I thought you said you wouldn't lie to us anymore…`

Ow. That hit hard.

`PersistandOvercome: ...`

`PersistandOvercome: Not Exactly.`

`PinkDelinquent: Sunny! You promised me you would get outside and excercise more!`

`PinkDelinquent: exercise*`

That also hurt.

`PersistandOvercome: Sorry.`

`PinkDelinquent: Like Hero said... You really need to exercise and start eating healthy.`

`KissTheCook042: I don't like guilt tripping you into doing things, but we're genuinely concerned for your health. You need to actually gain some weight.`

`keeeeeeeel: yeah you gotta get some meat on your bones!! cant stay skinny forevah!`

`HappyHydrangeas: Kel might be right earlier, maybe a sport could help Sunny get into shape?`

`keeeeeeeel: :):):):):)`

`PinkDelinquent: What kind of sport though? He cant just pick a random one...`

`Seconds pass as everyone tries to think of suggestions.`

`keeeeeeeel: golf?`

`PinkDelinquent: How is that physically engaging? Hes better off doing baseball.`

`keeeeeeeel: you only want him to do baseball cuz your doing softball! -_-`

`PinkDelinquent: No Im not! I just think its a good sport!`

`keeeeeeeel: surrrreeeee`

`PinkDelinquent: Whatever! Its better than fucking golf!`

`keeeeeeeel: whats wrong with golf?????`

`KissTheCook042: No need to curse Aubrey.`

`PinkDelinquent: The only thing you do in golf is stand around and swing your arms. Not exactly exercising huh?!`

`keeeeeeeel: well than how is it different than baseball??!?!?? standing around and swinging your arms huh!?`

`PinkDelinquent: Its totally different! In baseball you also have to catch the ball, throw it and run!`

`keeeeeeeel: thats only 2 more things!`

`PinkDelinquent: STILL TWO MORE THINGS THAN GOLF YOU DUMBASS!!`

`KissTheCook042: OK, this is getting out of hand.`

Sunny agreed.

`PinkDelinquent has been muted by PersistandOvercome  
keeeeeeeel has been muted by PersistandOvercome`

`KissTheCook042: Er... Thank you Sunny.`

`KissTheCook042: Anyways, we need to stay on track. We're just giving Sunny suggestions. In the end it's up to him for what he chooses.`

`PinkDelinquent has been unmuted by PersistandOvercome  
keeeeeeeel has been unmuted by PersistandOvercome`

`keeeeeeeel: sry`

`PinkDelinquent: Hmmph.`

`HappyHydrangeas: How about biking? It's not exactly a sport but it is a good way to exercise!`

`PinkDelinquent: Isnt the city kinda a bad place to go biking?`

`keeeeeeeel: yeah theres so many people it would be way too crowded.`

`KissTheCook042: I don't even think Sunny owns a bicycle...`

`PinkDelinquent: I would give him mine but then I wouldn't have a way to get around for working at Ginos.`

`keeeeeeeel: I thought ginos had its own bike??? i saw sunny use it when he did odd jobs around the neighborhood.`

`PinkDelinquent: It did until some dumbass got it ran over into a mangled piece of junk.`

`PinkDelinquent: Giving Sunny my bike wouldnt solve the entire problem anyways. Theres still the issue of it being too many people. Sorry Basil`

`HappyHydrangeas: It's fine.`

`KissTheCook042: How about tennis?`

`keeeeeeeel: ooooooooooh good idea (:`

`PinkDelinquent: Hmmmm that is a good idea. It totally seems like something Sunny would do.`

`PersistandOvercome: No.`

`PinkDelinquent: ??????`

`keeeeeeeel: what? why???`

`PersistandOvercome: There aren't any tennis courts near me.`

`PinkDelinquent: Not even at your school?`

`PersistandOvercome: No.`

`HappyHydrangeas: That's strange, even our school has a tennis court.`

`HappyHydrangeas: Is there anything near your home that you're particularly good at?`

Sunny pondered Basil’s message, There wasn’t really anything Sunny was good at besides the violin, and even if Sunny was willing to get back into playing, He didn’t even have one, He entertained the thought about the possibility of repairing the one he had before ~~he murdered-~~ the accident but it would be far too difficult and just the idea of playing the violin stained with Mari’s blood made him sick to his stomach.

Sunny sighed before taking a deep breath, he needed to _**CALM DOWN**_ and purge bad thoughts before they were established. Even if it could be done the cost would be astronomical and the money would be better spent straight up buying a brand new one. Sunny needed to think of something else. Something that he enjoyed doing, he looked back onto the last three days of Faraway. While they were easily some of the scariest of days ever since the incident, they were also easily the best. Reuniting with everyone, hanging out with Aubrey, Catching up with Hero, Getting into fist-fights with Kel- Sunny paused on that thought, A idea slowly creeping into his mind and taking root.

`PersistandOvercome: Boxing.`


	2. Chapter 2

“B-boxing?” Christine had sputtered out, almost dropping her fork onto the floor. Sunny nodded as he stabbed a piece of steak with his fork before bringing it to his mouth. Sunny’s mother straightened herself and regained her thoughts. “But… Why?” she asked, Sunny was never the kid to engage in physical activity, even before he shut himself in after Mari passed away. So she was genuinely curious as to why he would even consider such a physically demanding sport. Sunny chewed slowly and swallowed before answering.

“I needed a hobby." Sunny cut another piece from his steak "I also promised Aubrey and Hero I would get healthy and exercise.” He popped the piece into his mouth, semi-savoring the meat while chewing.

_“Ah… that makes sense.”_ She thought to herself.

Sunny did seem to be quite restless ever since they left Faraway and while he didn’t look as pale as he did a year ago, Sunny was still a very scrawny kid. She knew it was largely her fault however. With herself being extremely busy at work. She wasn’t home to make food for him. Luckily since they moved she was able to get into a position where she could spend more time with him during the evening. She still left far too early to see him in the morning but it was the best she could do. She returned to her original line of thinking. “Why specifically boxing? Couldn't you pick a safer sport?” This time Sunny put his fork down and looked straight ahead in thought, after a couple of seconds he looked up at his mother. “There’s a boxing gym close by and... I wanted to impress my friends.” He whispered during the last part. “Hmmm? Speak up dear I can’t hear you.” Sunny looked up at his mother and sighed. “It seemed the most interesting to me.” Before Christine could say anything else Sunny excused himself from the table and deposited his dishes into the sink before heading to his room, leaving Christine to her own thoughts.

__________________________________________________________

` **Flower Power!!!  
Users  
PinkDelinquent: Online  
PersistandOvercome: Online  
HappyHydrangeas: Online** `

`PinkDelinquent: I know you arent without your fair share of fights from Faraway, but…`

Sunny was reminded of those brawls he had during those last 3 days in faraway. Despite Kel usually being the instigator Sunny followed his friend into battle nonetheless. The heavy breathing of both parties, the various words of encouragement from Kel as Sunny laid into whoever was in front of him, and the countless band-aids and gauze used to mend each other's injuries. Looking back on them Sunny realized he had enjoyed them. The fights were never too serious and most of the time they stopped before anyone got seriously hurt but nonetheless they made sunny feel... Alive, like he was able to take out his frustrations on whoever he was facing at the time. It was the entire reason why Sunny became so interested in Boxing in the first place. He wanted to have that feeling again, he wanted to feel the euphoria and rush of the fight, he wanted to forget all about his problems and worries and only focus on the person (or persons) in front of him.

`PinkDelinquent: I'm still a little worried.`

`HappyHydrangeas: Don't worry about it Aubrey! Despite Sunny's small stature he can pack a mean punch.`

`PinkDelinquent: Yeah you would know huh Basil...`

`HappyHydrangeas: Erm... Yes. I would.`

Sunny's thoughts are again brought back to last year, this time the fist fight both of them had in Basil's room back in Faraway. It was an overall blur, blood was flowing down his face from his eye as freely as adrenaline was flowing in his veins, He had just disarmed Basil of the garden shears used to wound his right eye. He was stressed, afraid, and surprisingly angry. He let all of these emotions flow freely through his mind as he could hear his heartbeat pound in his ears. And in turn he let Basil have it. Sunny hit Basil with blow by blow, Basil tried to feebly fight back with small flails but ultimately stood there and took it. He loosely remembers hitting Basil square in the face leading to blood erupting from his nose. Eventually one of the blows hit Basil right on the chin, knocking him out cold. A couple months later Hero told him that he opened the bedroom door only to find him standing over Basil's unconscious body before passing out.

`PinkDelinquent: I'm still surprised Sunny managed to hurt you that badly with just his hands. I’m still hazy what the doctor said about your injuries though.`

`HappyHydrangeas: Broken nose, bruised ribs, face, a concussion, and a black eye.`

`PersistandOvercome: Sorry Basil.`

`HappyHydrangeas: Don't worry about it Sunny. Black eyes and broken bones can always heal. What I did to you cannot.`

`PinkDelinquent: Alright alright let's change the subject before it gets anymore depressing.`

`PinkDelinquent: So... have you asked your mom about it?`

Sunny reflected on the conversation (if you could call it that) he had with his mother during dinner.

`PersistandOvercome: She asked me why.`

`PinkDelinquent: Oh... There wasn't a yes or no? She just asked why?`

`PersistandOvercome: It seemed, she was going to say something but I excused myself before she could.`

`PinkDelinquent: Well maybe next time let her finish ya dork.`

Before Sunny could respond a knock came from his door.

"Sunny? Are you still awake?"

It was his mother’s voice. He put his phone to sleep, got up, and answered the door. "Ah." She seemed surprised, she probably expected him to be asleep, it was very late into the night after all. Sunny looked at her, attempting to glean any reasons why she was here from her face.

"Sunny... I-..."

His mother tripped on her words. It was like she wasn't entirely sure what to say to him. Knowing that they were probably going to be an important talk Sunny opened the door and let his mother inside, He sat down on his bed and motioned his mother to do the same. Now in a comfortable position to speak Christine took a deep breath and gathered all of her words. "I thought about what you said earlier, about your… interest in boxing." She took another pause trying to think clearly about what she wanted to convey.

"I've heard that boxing can be a dangerous sport, so when you said you wanted to get into it I was surprised, and when I actually took some time to think about it... I noticed that I was also scared." She took a deep breath. "5 years ago whe- when your sister Mari passed away I was devastated... and after your father left I realized you were the only I had left." Another pause, Sunny made sure to pay close attention and stay silent. Sunny noticed his mother's voice begin to falter and her eyes water. "If something ever happened to you... I-I don't..." Sunny hugged her before she could finish.

"I'll be fine mom..." He reassured her, feeling her arms returning his embrace.

"You promise?" she hiccuped, tightening her hold on him as if he'd be ripped away forcefully. Sunny nodded and could only say one thing.

"I promise."

It felt like an eternity before Sunny broke off from his mother's arms, she wiped her eyes of tears that had formed and simply smiled at him.

"Are you really, really, REALLY sure you want to go through with this Sunny?"

he looked down at and clenched his fists before giving his answer.

"Yeah."

Upon hearing Sunny give his answer Christine leaned down to give her son a kiss on the forehead.

"I know I wasn't entirely there for you all those years and I don't know how I'm going to make up for that, but starting now I'll support you every step of the way, no matter what."

That was all Sunny could ever ask for.


	3. Chapter 3

Sunny was starting to getting more and more annoyed at the 2 kids trailing behind him, a fat one and a tall one. They’ve been noisily following him ever since he left school grounds that day. 

_“Delinquents.”_ he assumed.

Sunny figured that from the white vests and black polos the two were dressed in that they went to the same high school. He racked his mind trying to figure out a way to lose them. There was no way in hell he was letting them find out where he lived. After a couple minutes of brainstorming, Sunny couldn’t think of anything and sighed. He would have to do the second best thing. But he couldn’t just pick a fight out in the open however, So he kept his eye out for a secluded area. When he finally found a clear alleyway, there was only one problem: it was right next to the boxing gym Sunny had been scouting out. Sunny had to think, should he take the chance of getting harassed as soon as he left the door everyday, or does he risk angering the Owner?

Deciding that he didn’t have enough time to think it over, Sunny turned down the alleyway. Hoping they were simply just coincidentally heading in the same direction. These hopes were dashed instantly as the two hooligans blocked the entrance to the alleyway.

“Huuuh? You stupid or blind or somethin’?” The fat one blurted out.

His tall friend snickered. “He must be! What kind of dumbass goes into a secluded dead end when he’s being followed?” The two bullies slowly walked up and started to violate his personal space.

The fat one spoke again. “Alright eye-patch, empty your fuckin’ pockets, I want your wallet, your phone, and any other shit you got, don’t bother trying to yell for help or I’ll knock you out cold and we’ll help ourselves to your stuff.”

 _”At least I have a reason to defend myself now.”_ he thought to himself.

Sunny took a deep breath and _**FOCUSED**_. The fat one seemed like the most trouble so he would target him first, the eye-patch comment also kinda ticked him off so there was even more of a reason to smash his face in. He would have to take a little more time to aim due to his lack depth perception. Sunny took another deep breath and for the first time in a year, he let loose.

“Man fuck this! Let’s get out of here!” They ran off, The fat one clutching his smashed nose as blood flowed freely over his face while his white vest was stained a bright crimson red, with the other bumping into things, eyes swollen and lips bloated.

While Sunny figured he’d won the fight, he also knew that he didn’t get off scot-free. The tall one had gotten some lucky hits in as evidenced by Sunny’s bruised cheeks and sore stomach. The skin on his knuckles were torn and a small amount of blood had started to trickle down the side of his head. He must have gotten cut after a punch had gotten through his _**GUARD**_ and knocked him down. Sunny dusted his not so spotless white vest that was certainly in better condition than the one on the kid whose nose he just smashed.

“How the hell did a scrawny kid like you win a fight like that?” Sunny froze, refusing to face the gruff voice.

He decided to take a page out of Aubrey’s book. “M-mind your own business.”

The voice didn’t let up, “It IS my business when it’s in the alleyway next to it.”

Sunny finally turned to face the man, His worst fear had come true, It was the boxing gym owner, an older man who couldn’t have been younger than 60 standing at the end of the alley with his arms crossed.

The old Asian man let out a surprised gasp when he saw Sunny’s face, “OY! You're that kid that keeps loitering around outside!” Sunny internally cursed, He must have been recognized from all the times that Sunny would peer through the window on his walks home from school. Sunny’s mind raced as he prepared for the worse, If he had angered the owner and gotten banned, Boxing would be out of the picture and he’d have wasted a whole week doing research. Maybe he could do odd jobs like back in faraway to get enough cash for a teles-

Before Sunny could finish his line of thought, a sharp stinging pain erupted from his temple. He realized that adrenaline probably was no longer being pumped into his veins at this point. As he sucked in air through his teeth the old man sighed very loudly, grabbing Sunny’s attention.

“You should probably get those injuries treated before you go home, come on in.” The man gestured for Sunny to follow him into the gym.

While at first Sunny was hesitant, he realized this was probably the best chance he was ever going to get to explain. So against his better judgment and years of being told to “not to follow strangers” he followed a man he only knew from a glance every now and then while loitering around the gym.

The first thing sunny thought about was how much the place stayed close to his expectations. It seemed like your traditional boxing gym, similar to the photos and images he had seen when doing research on his computer. It was a very large and spacious room with a fighting ring to the side, lining the walls were various training equipment used to improve the various techniques of boxing, Punching bags, Speed bags, they even had some more exotic equipment that Sunny had never seen before.

The second thing sunny noticed was the lack of people. There were only a couple of random people strewn about the place doing their routine and exercises. The old man was greeted by another stranger, this one much younger, Sunny estimated him to be around his late 20s.

“Ey. Mr. Kazura! Did ya’ deal with that commotion outside?” The man spoke with a country accent, his tone reminding Sunny of Hero. If Hero grew up in a rural town instead of Faraway.

“Not exactly…”

“Huh? What do ya’ me-” he paused as his eyes laid onto Sunny, realizing that gym owner wasn’t alone. “Who’s ‘e?”

The geezer looked down at sunny before facing the other man. 

“This boy led two delinquents into the alleyway, one fat and one tall , it seems like they intended to mug him.”

“And ya’ scared ‘em off right?”

The older man scratched his chin. “Nope… The kid took them on by himself.”

“What?! So ya’ just watched ‘im get wailed on!?”

Kazura shook his head. “That’s the thing. He didn’t need my help.”

Suspicious eyes fell on Sunny as the country man examined his semi-battered scrawny body. “yer kiddin’, ‘e looks a twig.”

Sunny took a minor amount of offense to that, While wasn’t exactly the strongest of people, he could still hold his own when it came down to things.

The old man chuckled. “Nope, at the end of it the fat one’s gonna need nose surgery and the lanky one could barely see out of his black eyes.” He looked down at Sunny, and continued to talk as if he wasn’t there. “However, he didn’t get away without some battle injuries of his own as you can see.”

The younger man gave Sunny another look over, this time focusing on his injuries. “‘mmm yeah, That cut on yer temple needs to be disinfected, and yer cheeks are gonna need some ice. What’s yer name kid?”

Sunny took a second to register that that man was talking to him specifically.

“Sunny.” he said without a hint of emotion.

“Sunny ‘ey? Strange name. Well… I’m Daniel but ya’ can call me Dan or Danny if ya’ want…” Daniel smiled at him, holding out a hand that Sunny reluctantly shook. After shaking his hand Sunny truly realized how much Daniel dwarfed him, The man could easily be almost twice his mass, If Sunny took his own height of five foot four and compared it, he figured that the man was at least six feet.

Daniel continued to speak. “That old geezer over there is Mr.Kazura, ‘e owns the place.”

“Oy! I can introduce myself! And who are you calling old geezer?!” Kazura angrily yelled, hitting the back of Daniels head with his fist before clearing his throat. “Anyways, Shouldn’t you be starting your roadwork?”

Daniel’s face became puzzled, “What do you mean? I just finished 5 minutes ago.”

Kazura put on a stern face as he grabbed the younger man’s shoulders. “Good. more than enough time for you to have rested and go for another set.”

Daniel’s puzzled face now turned to bewilderment as Kazura pushed him out the front door. “Huh? What do you mean another s-” Before he could finish, Kazura slammed it shut.

“Come on…” Sunny who stood in silence. Kazura walk past Sunny towards one of the doors leading to the another room of the gym. Sunny could only follow him into one of the rooms before being told to sit down. Sunny examined the side room Kazura had lead him into, the air had a very faint smell that uncomfortably reminded him of his short time in the hospital, his mind violently pulled back to one of the most tense moments Sunny ever had.

“I have to tell you something…” he had said, with his hand balled up into fists, knuckles turning white from the pressure. His friends looked at him with a mix of concern and bemusement. They were not ready for what he was about to say…

Before Sunny could delve into the memory any further , another sharp stinging pain erupted from the side of his head. Sunny clenched his jaw, as he realized that Kazura was cleaning the wound on the side of his head with gauze. Small amounts of now dried blood were wiped away as the intense smell of medical alcohol threatened to make Sunny’s eyes water. After he finished, Kazura plastered an adhesive bandage over the cut. The owner then tossed Sunny an ice-bag and told him to hold it against his cheek. Sunny observed how freezing the ice was as it made contact with his skin, but he didn’t really mind.

“Alright. Keep that on there and switch it to the other side after awhile.” Kazura said, putting his hands on his hips. “Try not to get into anymore fights on the way home. Especially not near the gym… It’s bad for business and it irritates the hell out of me.”

Sunny got up to leave, but before he left the room he turned to face the old man. “I.. uh…” was all he managed to get out.

“Hmm? I miss something?” Kazura stood, giving Sunny another look over for injuries he may have not noticed.

This was the opportunity Sunny was waiting for but… He didn’t know what exactly to say. Beat around the bush? Ask? Nothing seemed to be the right choice. Did he really want to become a boxer? Was he really so hung up on the feeling of adrenaline rushing through his veins that he wanted to dedicate and risk his life for it? The more Sunny thought the more unsure he became. Sunny became stressed out as doubts began to pile up in his head. What if he couldn't make the cut? What if something happened to him and he broke the promise he made to his mother, to his friends?  
A familiar voice called out to him.

_“Take a deep breath Sunny…”_

_“Breath in, Breath out...”_

**_“CALM DOWN...”_ **

He did as the voice said. Taking a deep breath, clearing his mind of doubt and uncertainty.

Sunny calms down.

He made his decision.

“I want to become a boxer.”


	4. Chapter 4

Sunny laid in his bed clutching the paper Mr. Kazura had given him. Written on it was Sunny’s entire workout and schedule for building his “foundation”. From what Daniel told him Kazura specifically tailored the entire thing to provide leeway for school. Despite having the entire thing memorized Sunny decided to give the paper another look over. 

06:30: Stretches  
06:45: Roadwork  
08:30 – 15:00: Classes  
15:00: Roadwork

_“Roadwork?” Sunny questioned while skimming the piece of paper Kazura had just handed to him._

_“It’s basically just running with a few key differences. Jog for a minute or two to get your heart rate up, Then run for a good couple of minutes before switching to a different movement pattern, like… dodging and swinging, rest for a couple of minutes and start again. The point is to build up your stamina and teach you to be light on your feet.”_

Sunny figured that he was intended to do his runs or roadwork, to and from school. The distance from his house wasn’t great enough to do much, so he would have to take some kind of detour. There was a small road that ran parallel to a river that was a ways off the beaten path but it lead his school nonetheless so it would have to do.

The rest of the paper were standard workouts that he had expected, push-ups, jumping jacks, squats, lunges, with the more boxing oriented exercises littered around. He would have to ask Daniel and Kazura at the gym but before Sunny could give it more thought his phone faintly buzzed, pulling it out from his pocket Sunny saw that Aubrey had sent him a text.

**` Aubrey` **

`Aubrey: How did it go?`

`Sunny: I got a schedule.`

`Aubrey: ooooh… Take a picture! I wanna see!`

Sunny fiddled with his phone before finally finding the camera mode, carefully taking a picture, he sent the image to Aubrey.

`Aubrey: Wow… I guess we know why Basil picked up photography instead of you.`

Sunny didn’t think that it was a great picture, but he also didn’t think it warranted Aubrey’s teasing, he decided not to respond.

`Aubrey: I’m going to be honest with you.`

`Aubrey: I have no idea what any of this stuff is.`

`Aubrey: Like. What the heck is shadow-boxing? You fight your own shadow or something?`

Sunny could understand her confusion, he had no idea what any of these things were until earlier today when he asked Kazura or Daniel about them.

_“Shadow boxing?” Daniel said curiously, not stopping onslaught of heavy strikes on the punching bag in front of him._

_Sunny nodded, he was taking the time to look through the schedule Kazura had gave him when he at the gym earlier today._

_“Shadowboxin’ is when ya’ fight with an imaginary opponent, It’s usually a useful tool for overall practice when ya’ don’t immediately ‘ave another person to spar with.” Daniel started throwing punches at the open air instead of the heavy-bag, interweaving his strikes with dodges and steps. Sunny looked at his form, studying it and attempting to gleam anything that could be useful._

`A: Oh so thats why its called shadow boxing. You are fighting a shadow. Just not your  
own.`

`A: So when are you starting?`

`S: Tomorrow.`

`A: Mmmm... Are you really sure you want to go through this Sunny? This entire thing seems like it would be hell.`

_“It didn’t seem too bad”_ He had thought to himself, Sunny wished Aubrey would give him a little credit. If he could keep up decently with Kel, he was sure he could handle some running and exercise.

`S: Yes. 100%`

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_“Aubrey was right, this IS hell.”_ was the first thing that entered Sunny’s mind as he heaved over the bank of the river next to his jogging route. Sunny kicked himself for deciding to eat twice as much for breakfast than he usually did. He thought that the extra food would help energize him, instead he ended up getting sick midway through, with his half digested extra helpings floating downstream.

_”Note to self, eat AFTER, or at least not right before.”_ Sunny thought, making a mental note to pack his breakfast with his lunch. He got up from the river bank and grabbed his water bottle, washing the bitter sour taste of vomit out of his mouth.

Sunny started his jog again, making sure that he was pacing himself to avoid another mishap. He checked his watch as he ran along the small road, his mother gave it to him for his 17th birthday, he remembered her making a remark about how mature it made him look as he tinkered with the settings on it. Sunny didn’t exactly agree, sure it made him look a little bit less like at kid paired with the fact that he’d grown a couple of inches since last year, but when Sunny looked in a mirror he still saw the same skinny malnourished teen that wouldn’t come out of his room a year ago. 

_“Another reason to go through with this to the end.”_ Sunny thought to himself before picking up the pace. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_“I...finally...made it.”_ Sunny gasped for air with his hands on his knees, his legs were shaky, his chest hurt, his heart felt like it was about to pound out of his chest, and after it all he had a massive headache. He had made it to the front entrance of his school, students slowly starting to trickle in as small groups of students mingled with each other outside. Sunny made his way into the school and to his class, checking his watch Sunny realized he still had 15 minutes left until the first bell. Sunny sighed and walked to his first period. English wasn’t particularly a good subject for Sunny, he was never good with speaking after all, with the exception of his friends and family he only talked when he had too and only the bare minimum of what had to be said. However writing was a much more tolerable experience. So he and his teacher got along well enough. Well enough to the point where yesterday she was mildly concerned at the small patches that had covered his cheek bruises. He managed to give her some excuse about ~~falling down the stairs~~ tripping while on a run. 

Luckily the rest of the school day went by without a problem. On the way home Sunny decided to drop by the gym. Opening the front door he scanned the Gym for any familiar faces. Though it wasn’t long before he felt someone grab the cuff of his uniform. Sunny whipped his head back and came face to face with someone he hadn’t seen before, Sunny estimated him to be around his age except much taller and more fit. The teen(?) had a scary look on his face as he examined Sunny.

“Who are you?” He said with a suspicious tone.

“I-” Before Sunny could defend himself a more familiar voice called out them.

“Oy Parker! Quit harassing Sunny! He’s with me.” Kazura waved his hand at the two of them.

“Ah… Chief Kazura!” he let go of Sunny’s uniform, his face taking on an embarrassed look as he rubbed the back of his head. “Erm… Sorry I didn’t know.”

Sunny nodded as Kazura walked up to the two of them. 

“It’s good to see you Sunny. Have you gotten started with the schedule I gave you yet?” 

He pulled the paper out of his bag and pointed to the specific section labeled “Bag exercises”.

Kazura gave an affirmative grunt. “I suppose you’d want to do that here, considering the fact that you probably don’t have a heavy bag at home.”

Sunny nodded again as Kazura clicked his tongue. “I would train you myself but I’m currently busy.” Kazura thinks for a minute before coming up with an idea. “Sunny this is Parker he’s only a year or two older than you, but he’s been training here since he was a kid.”

“Nice to meet you.” Parker seemed to be still mildly embarrassed. “Er… Sorry for apprehending you… I though you were loitering or up to something.” Parker holds out his hand, still in a red boxing glove.

“Don’t worry about it.” Sunny says as he reciprocates the handshake.

Kazura clears his throat, catching both of the teenagers’ attention.

“Now that you two are well acquainted… Parker, you just temporarily got yourself a new junior. Treat him well.”

“…….”

“…….”

**“WHAT?!”** Parker’s sudden outburst drew some stares. “But I don’t even have my license yet!”

Kazura chopped Parker on the head. “Quiet down! It’s just until tomorrow when I’m free again, then I’ll train him myself. For now just teach him some of the basics. Jabs, Hooks and Crosses.”

Parker sighed as Kazura left the gym, he turned around to face Sunny, who waited patiently for instruction. 

“Alright… I guess we should get started, here put these on.” Parker threw him a pair of red boxing gloves, the same ones he was wearing but a bit more thicker. “They’re 12 oz gloves, a good balance between padding and weight, you’ll use these when sparring, hitting the heavy-bag, and heavier weight classes use these instead of 10 ozs in actual matches but…” Parker examines Sunny for a brief moment. “You shouldn’t worry about that. No offense but unless your bones and organs are made of lead you’re not making the weight cut for those anytime soon.”

Parker lead Sunny over to one of the heavy-bags.

“Alright, try giving it a good straight punch.”

And so Sunny did, he gave the bag the same punch he’d given to everyone he fought. As his fist hit the bag, it moved slightly. Sunny couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed. He knew he wasn’t the strongest of people, but nearly all of the boxers in the gym that he’d seen had a much more explosive effect to their punches.

Parker gave out a quiet hum. “Try putting up your gloves up to your face but just below the eyes, put your left foot forward and your right foot back, like this.” Parker put up a boxing stance, Sunny did the same, attempting to mimicking Parker’s foot and fist placements.

“Great! Now throw a punch again, this time don’t move anything else in your body, just extend your front glove towards the bag, make sure to rotate your entire front arm, shoulder, elbow, and fist. Your shoulder should be covering your cheek and chin from the side.” 

Sunny took a couple of practice jabs before Parker spoke up again.

“Try to have you elbow go straight up instead of to the side, it gives your jab more speed and power, as well as making it a lot less telegraphed and harder to defend against.”

Sunny did as he was told, throwing more jabs, making a conscious effort on making sure his elbow went up. He noticed how his jabs came out faster and harder with the sound of the punching-bag making satisfying and quick thumps.

Parker studied Sunny’s form and punches. _“He may not seem like the type, but he’s got really good jabs. They come out fast and they hit with decent power.”_ He let Sunny give the bag some more hits before grabbing his attention with a clap.

“Alright… You have jabbing down pretty dang well. Let’s try something else.”

Sunny nodded as Parker put up a stance in front the bag next to his. “Try to do a jab but what you want to do this time is pull your left shoulder back and rotate your body into it.” 

Parker went through motions a couple of times before finally committing to it. The bag launched back with a loud heavy ‘thump’ as his fist slammed into it.

“Your turn.”

Sunny looked back at his bag, getting into the same boxing stance that he was using before. He pulled his left shoulder back as his right fist went forward making sure to put his weight into the punch. When it slammed into the bag, Sunny was… surprised, surprised at how nice the punch felt. It’s sound, while not as heavy or loud as Parker’s hit still gave off a very satisfying ‘thump’, and the bag launched back enough that Sunny had to stop it from coming back and slamming into him. When he looked back at Parker, Sunny realized that he wasn’t the only one that was surprised.

_“That… Was a pretty good cross, even for an inexperienced person.”_ Parker thought to himself _“The Chief, really scouted out an interesting one. With some actual training he could actually be a force to be reckoned with.”_ Parker clapped once again. “Alright! That’s what I’m talking about! You learn stupidly quickly, you know that?” Sunny could only nod as Parker got into position again.

“Let’s move on...”

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After an about an hour with breaks every now and then, Sunny learned how to confidently throw a hook, and an uppercut. They weren’t radically different from the cross and jab so he figured them out pretty quickly. Parker, Figuring out his job was done, left Sunny to his own so he could continue his own training.

Sunny kept practicing, taking all of his newfound knowledge and attempting to start weaving the different punches he just learned with each other. Sunny was just about to throw another hook into the punching-bag when his phone started buzzing in his pocket. Taking it out and flipping it open, his heart almost sank into his stomach.

**_Mom: Where are you?_ **

Sunny swore to himself as he checked the time, 7:48. Just a bit over when his mom got home from work. He must have been so caught up with training that he completely forgot about heading home. He grabbed his school bag and almost sprinted out the gym. Occupied with trying to hastily text out a reply to his mother that he wasn’t kidnapped or dead, Sunny almost knocked over Mr. Kazura who was just returning from whatever he had to leave for.

“Oy... Sunny! What’s the rush?!” He questioned, very obviously irritated.

“Mom. Late. Home.” Sunny blurted out like a caveman, attempting to explain his situation in as little words as possible. Kazura let out an understanding grunt and moved out of the way. As Sunny sprinted pass him and down the road, Kazura yelled out to him. 

“Sunny! I expect you here everyday after you finish school!” Kazura smirked as he saw the teen raise a hand and wave in affirmation, his silhouette slowly starting to getting smaller and smaller in the horizon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry. This took a bit to write as I kind of hit a writing block midway through and had to rewrite certain sections multiple times. Thank you for reading.


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